In the Arms of the Wind (9 page)

Danny moved his arm so he could cup her chin, looking down into her face as he tilted it up. “You know what scares the bejesus out of me?” he asked, staring at her trembling lips.

“What?”

“Closed-in places,” he said. “I’m scared shitless of being trapped where I can’t get out. I can’t breathe and I start sweating like you wouldn’t believe. My mouth gets dry, I start to shake and I can’t talk.”

“You’re claustrophobic,” she said.

“Big time,” he admitted. “I turn into a puddle of jelly just thinking about it.”

“I’ve got brontophobia,” she said.

“You’re afraid of brontosauruses?” he asked, lips quirking.

“No, silly,” she said and tried to smile. “It’s a fear of storms and thunder.”

“My oldest brother is terrified of the dark.”

“Nyctophobia,” she said.

“Is that what it’s called? I thought that was what the robot kept saying in that old sci-fi movie with Michael what’s his name,
The Day the Earth Stood Still
.”

She laughed. “That was Klaatu barada nikto and the ’bot didn’t say it. The spaceman did.”

“Wonder what he was afraid of,” Danny mused. “That spaceman.”

“Well, it wasn’t acrophobia or aviophobia. Those are the fears of heights and flying,” she informed him.

“Well, don’t I got a little miss know-it-all on my hands?” he quipped, kissing her on the nose.

“I just remember some of the names from a psych course I took in college,” she said, relaxing a little. “You missed.”

His brows drew together. “What did I miss?”

“My cheek,” she said. “First date, respectful peck on the cheek. Remember?”

He kissed her forehead.

“Missed again. You’ve got lousy aim, copper.”

“On the contrary,” he denied. “I’m an excellent shot, baby.”

His reckless smile made her heart speed up and when his lips settled gently upon hers, she melted. With a warm, knowledgeable mouth plying hers, a hard body along her own, and strong arms wrapping her in a cocoon of safety, she had never felt so wanted or so alive. She clung to him, and the moment he insinuated one long leg between hers, she was his for the taking.

Danny made no attempt to slip his tongue past her lips though he ached to do so. His cock was tight and burning between his legs, thrusting against her like steel, but he stamped down the growing lust, keeping his hand from straying to her breast. He put every ounce of desire he had for her into the firmness of his kiss, keeping his raging hormones at bay with some difficulty. He kissed her thoroughly then pulled back, feeling the blood pounding in his head and shaft.

“Woman, you do things to me I can barely control,” he confessed raggedly. His fingers shook as he caressed her cheek. “If I’m going too fast, just tell me to stop.”

Kaycee opened her mouth to answer but the phone rang—a jarring sound that startled them both.

“I’d better get that,” she said, and reluctantly eased out of his arms. “My sister is expecting any day now.”

The room brightened from the flare of lightning at the windows then thunder boomed, but it didn’t sound as close as before. She went to her desk and picked up the receiver.

“Hello?”

Danny propped his head on his fist as she turned to give him an exasperated look.

“Yes sir, we’re okay. How are you and Rufus handling the blackout?”

Danny grinned, realizing she was talking to her nosy neighbor.

“He’s being a perfect gentleman, Mr. Phillips.” She winked at Danny. “He’s a good Catholic boy, you know.”

Pointing a finger at his chest, Danny mouthed “Me?” then shook his head.

“Yes sir, I’ll be sure to tell him and thank you for calling to check up on us,” she said. “Yes sir. Bye.”

“My rival?” Danny asked.

“The neighborhood watch,” Kaycee said as she came back to the sofa and sat down beside him. “He said to tell you he’s watching after me so if you step over the line, he’ll be forced to inform your superior officers.”

Danny snorted. He stroked her arm with the hope she’d lie down beside him again.

“He means well,” she said. “He’s just a lonely old man with nothing better to do than mind other people’s business. That’s what lonely old men do.”

“I’ll be sure to be buttoning my shirt and tucking it into my pants when I leave,” Danny said. “Belt looped over my shoulder and shoes in hand.”

“You’ll do nothing of the sort!” she said with a gasp. “I have to live here, mister!”

“Well, until we marry then you’ll be moving in with me,” he stated.

“Which is where exactly?”

“I have a condo over at Sundowner Cay,” he answered.

She stared at him. “Are you serious?”

“A present from my grandfather when I graduated from the police academy,” he told her. “He owns Rampart Villas. It was a tax write-off for him.”

“A heck of a tax write-off,” she said. “You like living there?”

“It’s okay.”

“Do you know Kathleen Moriarity? I think she’s president of the owners association at Rampart Villas.”

Danny’s expression hardened. “Yeah, I know her. Why?”

“She bought a beautiful old bedroom suite from the antiques shop where I work and I went over to the condo with the delivery van. Her home is absolutely beautiful and I remember her saying each condo had the same floor plan.”

“Yeah, they do,” he said.

“I helped her decorate one of the other three bedrooms. She turned it into a den.”

“I hope she paid you.”

“Oh, she did,” she said. “She and I hit it off despite the obvious differences in our lifestyles.”

“It’s only a place to live, Kaycee,” he said. “It doesn’t define your lifestyle.”

“What I meant was we sort of developed a friendship and I visit her now and then so I’m familiar with Rampart Villas.”

“That’s nice,” he mumbled.

She sensed he wanted to drop the subject and wondered what she’d said to put the distance in his gaze and the tightness to his lips. When he sat up, she could feel him drawing away from her.

“I should get going,” he said, coming to his feet.

“It’s still raining,” she told him, hurt by his sudden withdrawal.

“I think the bad stuff is over,” he said as he went to the door and bent down to retrieve his shoes.

She spoke, her voice hesitant. “I wish you’d stay.”

He turned to face her—a slight smile on his chiseled features.

“If I stay, we’ll be in your bedroom before the night is over and it won’t be just to cuddle.” He gave her a steady look. “Is that what you want?”

“Is that why you’re suddenly in a hurry to leave?” she countered.

“No.” He took a deep breath. “Kathleen Moriarty is my ex-wife.”

Kaycee blinked. “You’re her ex?”

Danny laughed sardonically. “I had to provide that damned condo for her as part of the divorce settlement. It was either that or have her completely ruin my life more than she already had. Everything in her condo was purchased with my money so that four-thousand-dollar bedroom suite she bought from you came out of my savings account. I’m paying for her fucking lifestyle and it pisses me off no end. I can just imagine what she’s said about me,” he said.

“She didn’t tell me you were a policeman,” Kaycee replied.

“She wouldn’t have. It always embarrassed her for people to know what I do for a living.” When she made no comment to that, he released a long breath. “Guess you no longer want me to stay, huh?”

“Did you cheat on her?”

His forehead creased. “Is that what she told you?”

“Did you beat her?”

He rolled his eyes. “No, but sometimes I wish I had.”

“You didn’t give her a black eye?”

Danny leaned against the door to put on his shoes. “Well, that I did do but it was an accident. I didn’t hit her although she told her lawyer I did. Of course the wicked scratches down my arm were offered as evidence of self-defense on her part.”

“What happened?”

He put the other shoe on. “Look, sweetie. I’m not going to stand here and defend myself to you because a psychotic bitch spun you a tissue of lies about me. If you want to believe her, that’s fine. I told you when we first met that I didn’t cheat on her until after she kicked my ass out. You don’t want to believe me then don’t.”

Kaycee put out a hand as he jerked open her front door. “I didn’t say that,” she said.

“Thanks for a nice evening,” he grated, letting the screen door slam behind him.

She ran to the door and pushed open the screen. “Danny, wait!”

He was already halfway to his car. The rain had increased in volume again and the sky was strobing with white and gray flares.

“Danny, please don’t go!” she called out to him from the porch. She saw him lift a hand in farewell before opening the car door and sliding inside. As she stood there, she watched him back out of the driveway and peel down the street, the red of his taillights soon lost in the gloom of the storm.

Chapter Four

Kaycee rose too late the next morning to make the nine a.m. Mass so attended the noon service instead. She’d tried several times to reach Danny but only got his answering machine. She called again after Mass, but either he wasn’t answering or wasn’t home. Despondent, not wanting to be alone, she decided to have lunch at the Chantilly Lace—a fifties diner—on the way home. She had to wait for a booth since the diner was packed with churchgoers but she didn’t mind. The food was great and the atmosphere cheery enough to help her depression.

When at last the gum-popping waitress with her mid-calf-length poodle skirt, bobby socks and saddle oxfords, white short-sleeve blouse with her name embroidered on the pocket, beehive hairdo and cherry-red lipstick showed her to the booth, Kaycee was in a better frame of mind than when she’d entered the diner. Between the vintage rock and roll blaring from the jukebox, the black-and-white-checkerboard tiles on the floor, red vinyl benches and polished chrome barstools at the thirty-foot counter, the atmosphere had the tendency to chase away even the worst case of blues.

“You know what you want or you wanna see a menu, sweetie?” the waitress inquired in between loud pops of her gum. She gave Kaycee a perky smile.

“No, I know what I’ll have,” Kaycee said. “I want a cheeseburger with all the fixings, fries and a large cherry Pepsi.”

“Gotcha,” the waitress said, and flounced off with a happy grin. She came back minutes later with a tall, frosty glass of pop.

“Thanks,” Kaycee said then settled back in the booth, opened her purse and took out the paperback she kept there for times when she had to wait. She knew it would be awhile before her lunch arrived since the diner was packed.

“Hey.”

She looked up, surprised to see Danny Gallagher standing at the table.

“Hey,” she said, laying the paperback on the seat beside her.

“Can I join you?” he asked.

“Sure.” She was even more surprised when he brought his hand from behind his back and extended a white rose toward her. She took it as he slid into the seat across from her. “How did you know where I was?” she queried.

He laced his fingers together on the tabletop. “I was waiting outside St. Rose of Lima at nine this morning, but you never showed. I figured you probably slept late.”

“I did,” she admitted, bringing the rose to her nose.

“So I was going to drive by there at noon but my grandfather called and I got to talking…” He frowned. “Correction, I was being lectured to by him and let the time get away from me. By the time I went by there, the parking lot was emptying and I didn’t see your car. I was going to go by your house but thought I’d scope out the restaurants between St. Rose and Anderson Lane just in case you hadn’t eaten.”

“You want your usual, Danny?” the waitress asked as she suddenly appeared at the table.

“Yeah, Maxie. Thanks,” he replied.

“Coming right up, boss man,” she agreed.

“Boss man?” Kaycee questioned.

Danny shrugged. “I own the place.”

Kaycee’s eyebrows shot up. “Are you kidding me?”

“No. My grandmother left me the Chantilly Lace, Blueberry Hill and Sugartime diners. My brother Johnny got The Green Door, Silhouettes and
Sea Cruise
supper clubs and a percentage of our weekly sales go to my brother Sean at St. Anthony’s. Our love of the fifties is the only thing my brothers and I have in common,” he answered, nodding at the waitress as she placed a root beer float in front of him.

“Your brother owns
Sea Cruise
? I love eating there when I can afford it.”

“I’ll take you whenever you’d like to go. We can go this evening if you’d like. I think the boat leaves the dock at seven.”

Kaycee gave him an amazed look. “After last night, I thought…”

“Look,” he said, cutting her off, “I want to apologize for the way I acted last night. I can be a real ass sometimes. I’m not going to make any excuses for being a son of a bitch but at least I can explain why I behaved as I did.”